World meat industry news

In 2020, Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat producer, increased its sausage sales through retail chains by 21% in monetary terms according to NielsenIQ. This puts Cherkizovo ahead of the industry average of 14% for 2020.  

Data from analytics company NielsenIQ show the turnover of Russian sausage retailers  grew 14% in 2020 to RUB 245 billion. Product categories that recorded notable growth included cooked and smoked sausages (19% or RUB 4.5 billion), dry sausages (18% or RUB 3.8 billion), ham (18% or RUB 1.9 billion), cooked sausages (16% or RUB 7.2 billion), hot dogs (13% or RUB 8.1 billion), and deli meats (12% or RUB 3 billion),

In volume terms, sausage sales through Russian retail chains grew 13% to 761,300 tonnes last year according to NielsenIQ. Positive trends were recorded across almost all sausage product segments. For example, sales of cooked and smoked sausages grew 22% (14,300 tonnes), cooked sausages 18% (30,000 tonnes), ham 18% (6,100 tonnes), dry sausages 17% (5,100 tonnes), hot dogs 12% (26,900 tonnes), and deli meats 12% (6,100 tonnes).

According to NielsenIQ, Cherkizovo Group’s sausage sales grew faster than the rest of the market in 2020 in monetary terms, increasing by 21% to RUB 16.3 billion. The highest growth was recorded for deli meats (430%), dry sausages (33%), ham (32%), and cooked sausages (26%).

In the dry sausage segment, Cherkizovo Group had the biggest market share among all retail chains in 2020, accounting for 20% in value terms. Over the year, Cherkizovo increased its market share by 2.3 p.p. The increase was due to good sales of the Cherkizovo Premium line and the launch of the 225g Astoria sausage. Furthermore, at 27%, Cherkizovo also had the largest market share in the ham segment in 2020 in value terms. The 3 p.p market share increase is down to good sales of the Po-Cherkizovsky ham as well as the launch of turkey products under the Imperiya Vkusa and Pava-Pava brands.

In volume terms, Cherkizovo Group’s sausage sales grew 12% to 48,600 tonnes last year. Sales of deli meats increased by 355%, ham 31%, dry sausages 26%, and cooked sausages 24%.

“We are very pleased with the sales results of our sausage products last year. They show that customers have reacted well to our rebranding of the flagship Cherkizovo and Cherkizovo Premium brands, where we not only improved the packaging but the recipes as well. The increasing popularity of turkey sausages also helped our new products sold under the Pava-Pava and Imperiya Vkusa brands become real favourites among customers,” commented Irina Kim, Ready Meals Marketing Director at Cherkizovo Trade House.